ARCHIVE: Past Shows

Aunt Leaf Jeffrey Mousseau and Barbara Wiechmann

Funding

AUNT LEAF is developed through the HERE Artist Residency Program with additional support from The Children's Theatre Foundation of America, The New Dramatists Creativity Fund, and the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Aunt Leaf played from January 7 - 24, 2010 in the Dorothy B. Williams Theatre.

About the show

A century-old haunting.
A young girl who won't speak
and an old woman with skin like tree bark.
A dead man whistling on the lawn.
A nightly ritual.
A tale from the dark woods of the Hudson River Valley
and the darker woods of the imagination.
A story about stories.

Part of startHERE: Innovative Theatre for Young People

Jeffrey Mousseau (director) and Barbara Wiechmann (playwright) have created a new original performance for children ages 9 and up exploring the power of the imagination. The project draws upon the literature, art, and folklore that has emerged from the Hudson River Valley region, and is inspired by how the area's landscape and environment provoke both creativity and fear.

Show Press

“offers all the pleasurable frissons of a late-night ghost story. ”

— Laurel Graber, New York Times

“Spine-tingling" is an adjective I rarely use when describing an evening of theatre, sadly, but as the lights rose on Here's production of Aunt Leaf and three ghostlike performers emerged from the creepy haunted house of a set, I felt genuine chills. Even more impressive, playwright Barbara Wiechmann and director Jeffrey Mousseau maintain that deliciously eerie atmosphere for the play's 45-minute duration.”

— Clifford Lee Johnson III, Backstage

“I wish as many 9-year-olds as possible could see Aunt Leaf, for then they would learn how a well-told tale and one's own imagination are all that are required to chill the blood and fire the mind.”

— Clifford Lee Johnson III, Backstage

“...a play for kids that's really for adults, I think. It's not that its story or themes are in any way unsuitable for young audiences: on the contrary, its celebration of the power of storytelling, in whatever unconventional form it may take, is affirming and valuable for people of all ages.”